


Flicker of Awareness

by chicago_ruth



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Aphrodisiacs, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Bondage, Comatose Cloud Strife, Dehumanization, M/M, Medical Kink, Science Experiments, rape as science experiment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:41:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24953956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicago_ruth/pseuds/chicago_ruth
Summary: Zack's been keeping track: Cloud hasn't moved in four days.Hojo decides to kill two research experiments with one stone.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 10
Kudos: 131
Collections: Nonconathon 2020





	Flicker of Awareness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jikatabi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jikatabi/gifts).



> I took a few liberties with the layout of Hojo's lab in Nibelheim. I'm sure it will have a sleek, updated look when we reach it in FF7 R anyway ;)

Cloud hasn’t moved in two days.

It’s not normal. Zack has been keeping an eye on Cloud, as best he can. He cooperates with Hojo and his scientists, he draws their attention to him. He used to reach through the bars of their cells and twine his fingers with Cloud’s, giving as much warmth and reassurance as he could.

Cloud always squeezed back.

Not for two days though. Not a single sound has escaped his lips either: no sighs, no gasps, no quiet “Zack.”

Hojo strolls into the lab as usual, carrying a coffee mug and a clipboard with his notes. Zack used to yell at him, used to try to fight, but there’s no point right now. He needs to save his strength for things that matter. But he can’t stop the hatred from simmering in his gut, mixing in with the disgust he feels every time he lays eyes on Hojo.

Hojo ignores Zack and Cloud, opting instead to set his mug down on the nearby desk and waking the computer. Zack’s mako-enhanced eyes still aren’t sharp enough to read what’s on the screen, but he figures it’s all the data collected by the interns yesterday, when they measured Zack and injected him with fluids that burned in his veins.

He’s been feeling pretty hot in general, every small movement making sweat spring from his skin. If he weren’t already naked, he’d be stripping off his clothes.

He can’t remember the last time he wore clothes. Sometimes when the scientists are poking and prodding him, Zack dreams of breaking free of his bonds and stealing a lab coat to cover himself up. But those dreams are useless, empty hope that fades faster and faster with every day he’s trapped here.

Zack is so lost in thought that he almost misses it when the two lab assistants enter. These two are larger than Hojo, but despite their muscle and size they aren’t anywhere near as terrifying as Hojo. They don’t revel in hurting him and Cloud just for the sake of it.

It’s bad that they’re here, though, because their presence means that Hojo is ready to start the day.

“The Subject C first,” Hojo says. “Strap him to the exam table. Use the stirrups.”

 _The stirrups_ mean that Hojo will be poking and prodding Cloud everywhere, including inside him. Zack finds a bit of fevered energy to get up and bang his arm against the cell bars.

“Leave him alone!” Zack cries. “You’ve done enough already.”

The two assistants ignore him, but Hojo gives Zack a sadistic smile. “No, I haven’t. Science must go on, and we’ll never learn more if we aren’t willing to do anything in pursuit of knowledge.”

It’s fucked up, it’s wrong, and it’s not the first time Hojo has said something to that extent. Zack has no response, but when the assistants close in to open Cloud’s cage door, Zack swipes at one of them through the bars. The assistant slaps Zack’s hand away with ease.

“Just leave him alone! Can’t you see he’s out of it? What can you possibly learn from him when he’s in this state?” Zack hates that he’s begging. He doesn’t want to beg. He wants to lift Angeal’s sword— _his_ sword—and run it through Hojo. But the Buster Sword is lost, just like everything and everybody else who was in Nibelheim that day.

“It’s this new state that’s fascinating!” Hojo replies. The two assistants haul Cloud up from the floor, carrying him by his arms and legs. Cloud’s head lolls to the side, and his eyes seem to stare right at Zack, begging for help.

There are no tears, though. Not anymore.

Zack uselessly bangs on the bars, hoping to unlatch the door, but it still has no give. He doesn’t know why he tries, when it never has before, but he hates seeing Hojo touch Cloud. He wants Cloud safe, even if that means drawing their ire to him.

The assistants don’t even look back at Zack as they carry Cloud to the examination table and strap him in. The table is set right across from Zack’s cage, with Cloud’s legs facing Zack. As they’re hooked into the stirrups, Cloud’s hole is revealed to Zack.

The blood in his veins pulses hotter. Zack looks away.

“Don’t leave. I’m going to need you in a bit,” Hojo says to the assistants.

Fuck. Zack’s hands clench into fists. He needs to know what’s happening, but he wants to spare Cloud the indignity of it all. Maybe it’s for the best that Cloud is so out of it—as long as Cloud never remembers any of this.

It sounds nice, in a way. To be completely disassociated from the events that are happening. To not have to feel the needles or the cuts, to not have the constant headaches and nightmares, to be able to rest properly.

“Interesting,” Hojo says, scribbling something onto his clipboard. “His temperature is down by half a centigrade.”

Zack knows exactly how Hojo got that temperature measurement. He’s been on the receiving end before too.

“Please,” Zack begs dejectedly. “Just leave Cloud alone. Why do you need him? He’s—he’s not a SOLDIER. He’s a nobody. I’m the more interesting specimen.”

To his surprise, Hojo responds, “Indeed you are.” Then he sets his clipboard down and looks at the assistants. “Bring him over. And do take care not to give him any openings.”

That warning is in response to an incident a week back. Zack tenses but doesn’t fight them when they grab him by both arms and manhandle him forward. If this means Cloud is safe, he’ll endure it.

Except Hojo doesn’t direct them to remove Cloud. “Strap his wrists into the shackles up there. Yes.”

The shackles in question are near the top of the exam table. The only way he’s getting both wrists in there is if—

Is if they put him on top of Cloud. He does start struggling them, but he’s weakened, his skin is burning up, and these two assistants aren’t tired and hungry and exhausted from weeks and weeks of interrupted sleep.

When they’re done strapping him in, Zack’s arms are bracketing Cloud and he’s standing between Cloud’s spread legs. His thighs brush up against Cloud’s thighs, and that skin contact alone has his cock twitch in anticipation.

Zack pulls on the straps, but there’s no give. He’s trapped in this uncomfortable position, bent over Cloud. He tries to avoid Cloud’s eyes, but they’re staring right at him, open and dead and glowing with mako.

Cloud’s eyes used to be sky blue. Zack remembers that.

There are electrical measurement nodes attached to Cloud’s forehead and his chest, as well as a pulse reader around his wrist. A plastic tube is wrapped around Cloud’s cock. Zack remembers the tube from when Hojo decided to get a semen sample from him.

“Sorry,” he whispers to Cloud. He hopes Hojo doesn’t hear him, but there’s not much else he can do. “Just bear with me.”

Behind them, one of the machines beeps.

At least this position means Zack’s body is hiding Cloud from view. Hojo’s fingers can’t reach inside Cloud anymore. They can’t touch his nipples, they can’t easily rub the insides of his mouth.

“Speak to him again,” Hojo orders suddenly. “He reacted to your voice.”

Zack shudders in revulsion. He doesn’t want to give Hojo any of Cloud’s reactions at all, so he stays silent at first. He’s sorry to have even spoken in the first place. But the implication that Cloud can hear him, that Cloud is conscious enough to know what’s happening to him—that tears him up from the inside. He wonders if Cloud is scared, if he’s hurting, if he hates Zack for doing this.

After several moments pass, Hojo huffs in impatience. “Either you do what I ask, or I have them put you right back in the cage and I’ll be the one touching him. It makes no difference to me, in the end.”

“You sure about that?” Zack snarks back. “You were pretty keen on having me out here.”

The machine beeps again.

Zack curses himself for having reacted. He kind of hoped that Cloud wouldn’t pay attention if the talking wasn’t directed at him, but apparently he’s attuned to Zack’s voice either way.

“Indeed I was.” Without warning, Hojo steps in close to Zack and places a hand on his naked ass. Zack’s cheeks tense and he grits his teeth when Hojo inserts a single lubed finger into his hole. The finger is replaced by a metal rod soon after—the thermometer.

“Hmm. One centigrade higher than normal,” Hojo mutters. “And the specimen displays an unusual amount of sweat production.” Then he laughs in that awful way of his, the laugh that’s going to haunt Zack’s nightmares. 

Hojo withdraws and pulls up his rolling stool to the computer monitor. Zack expects him to give another order or to start pulling out more instruments or _something_ , but Hojo ignores Zack and Cloud in favor of typing something.

While Zack waits, stuck in this awful limbo of knowing more is coming but having no idea what, his body heats up further. A drop of his sweat lands on Cloud’s cheek, and Cloud blinks at him.

Is that a reaction? Or has Cloud been blinking the entire time, and he simply hasn’t noticed?

Zack’s arms begin to strain with the effort of keeping himself above Cloud, not touching him. It would be so simple to let his body sink lower, until their chests touch. He won’t deny that he finds Cloud attractive. He thought it the first time he saw Cloud’s smile, up on that mountain pass.

He misses that smile. He worked hard to make Cloud smile more often. It was a rare occurrence, with the smile getting rarer and rarer the closer they got to Nibelheim. Zack’s not sure what the real cause of it was back then. He regrets not pressing, he regrets not getting more smiles out of Cloud.

He regrets not telling Cloud to get the fuck out of Nibelheim before he confronted Sephiroth.

The introspection makes him lose focus, and his head sinks lower. His lips end up brushing against Cloud’s nose.

Another beep of the machine.

Worse: a sudden, unwanted rush of arousal.

Zack slams his head back up and lifts his torso up as far as it will go. It puts more strain on his forearms, and his wrists start aching from the awkward bend, but at least he’s not touching Cloud.

“Interesting,” Hojo says, far closer than Zack expects. He lost track of where Hojo was in the room, and that was such a rookie mistake that Zack wants to kick himself. “Subject displays signs of obvious arousal. Beginnings of an erection despite minimal physical stimulation.”

 _Subject_. Zack tenses at hearing that word. Hojo only calls them that when he’s fully into his experiments and sadistic tortures. He’s used to it, but he still hates it. He and Cloud are not just subjects.

Better to ignore it. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to think of something disgusting enough to quell the arousal. Hojo’s voice ought to do it.

“Subject C continues to appear catatonic, but readings show reactions when in proximity to Subject Z. This could be due to the shared Jenova cells, but my understanding is that the two subjects shared a pair-bond before our acquisition and the emotional attachment may be the cause. Further investigation is required.” Hojo sets his recording device down on a nearby table. The lens is aimed at an angle that will capture everything that happens to Zack and Cloud.

Zack doesn’t know what to focus on. He wants to laugh about the _pair-bond_ , because as much as Zack flirted with Cloud, Cloud only ever averted his gaze shyly and mumbled excuses. Zack thought back then that Cloud wasn’t interested, until he caught Cloud staring at him once with what was pretty obviously desire.

Zack’s not the type to force himself on anyone though, so he kept inviting Cloud, kept making it clear he was open to it, waiting for Cloud to find the courage to take the first step.

Another regret.

Thinking of Cloud isn’t helping his erection subside though, but at this point Zack realizes that it’s not just his own fucked up desires that are causing the reaction. He’s been getting harder and harder the entire time, despite the cold air and Hojo’s words and the disgust coursing through Zack’s veins.

Suddenly Zack remembers the injection they gave him the previous day. “What the fuck did you do to me?” he growls, lifting his head to glare at Hojo.

Hojo smirks at him. “Subject Z responds well to the chemical stimulant administered the day before. A full eight hours have passed before effects became noticeable; the chemists will need to refine it to hasten the effect.”

Chemical stimulant? Zack takes a deep breath and closes his eyes once more, this time trying to focus on his body. He still feels hotter than usual, and there’s the… there’s the arousal, the insistent throb between his legs, where every shift in his stance, every brush of his cock against anything at all, feels like a lover’s caress. His mouth feels a bit dryer, maybe, and Cloud smells so sweet, and he’s soft, and pliant, and Cloud responds to him, so—

No. Zack pushes those thoughts away. They aren’t his thoughts.

“Subject Z displays an immense about of resistance to the chemical. This might be the excess of Mako in its veins, but if we are to use this chemical in SOLDIER breeding programs, we will need to increase the potency as well.”

Any doubt Zack has about the desired effects of the chemical fly right out the window. He shudders at the implication though. Does Shin-Ra want to turn SOLDIERs into rapists? Although given everything else he’s seen of the Shin-Ra science department, it doesn’t seem implausible anymore.

None of that matters. What matters is that Zack stays in control and doesn’t hurt Cloud. He looks Cloud in the eyes and tries to give him a reassuring smile. He doesn’t know if it works, but Cloud’s lips part enticingly.

It would be nice to kiss those lips. Zack would be gentle. He wants Cloud to have a good time, so everything would be slow, at Cloud’s pace. Zack would enjoy kissing Cloud with both their lips closed, until Cloud whines a little in desperation, and—

No! Zack bites down hard on his lip, and the pain brings him back to reality. No kissing, no licking, no touching.

“Subject C’s heartrate continues to rise. My hypothesis is that significant stimulation of the right kind will bring the subject out of its coma-like state. Since yesterday’s stress tests did nothing to that end, I’ve decided to see if pleasure will bring about the desired result. Thus this experiment tests both the effects of the stimulant as well as possible countermeasures for dissociative subjects.” Here Hojo pauses and taps on the recorder again. He has a less clinical tone of voice when he continues, “Subject Z, proceed with the penetration of Subject C.”

To which Zack responds, “Fuck off.” He shifts his hips back as far as they can go, although his back is already straining and his arms are threatening to buckle.

Hojo sighs and gives an exaggerated shrug. “This is what happens when I try to be nice.” He turns to the two lab assistance. “I hope you’re both paying attention. I’ll expect you to be able to perform similar experiments on even more reticent subjects in the future.”

The two lab assistants nod and mutter a careful, “Yes, sir.” Trained dogs, both of them, but Zack is self-aware enough to realize that he used to be like them, blindly following Shin-Ra’s orders.

Hojo snaps on a pair of thin gloves and picks up one of the thick metal rods the scientists use to poke and prod at Zack and Cloud. He slathers the rod in lube, which gives Zack a good indication of what’s coming next. He braces himself.

No matter how often Hojo has touched him, Zack never gets used to it. Every single time makes Zack’s stomach churn with revulsion, and this time is no exception. Except Hojo’s hand on his ass isn’t a simple clinical touch right now; it practically burns, and arousal slams into Zack so hard he can’t breathe for a moment. He snaps his hips forward in an attempt to escape the touch, but that only brings his erection right up against Cloud’s hole.

The machine beeps, showing that Cloud noticed.

“That’s what I like to see,” Hojo says. “I think just a little bit more…” He follows that by pressing the rod up against Zack’s hole and pushing in relentlessly. It’s so slippery and smooth that it slides in easily, despite Zack’s attempts to clench against it.

Clenching is a mistake, anyway, because that increases the sensation of the dragging, and if he’d thought he was feeling hot before, it’s nothing compared to now. His cock spurts precome, fat drops of it dripping onto Cloud’s hole.

“Stop,” Zack begs, “Don’t. I’ll—I’ll _penetrate_ him. Just take it out.”

It’s not that he cares about the violation for himself. But his tenuous grip on control is slipping, and he can’t—he _won’t—_ hurt Cloud. It’s already taking too much effort not to slide his hips just that smallest bit further. His mind is conjuring up images of Cloud clinging to him, begging for more, harder, _Zack, please, I need you—_

Through some small mercy, Hojo withdraws the rod. “Go on, then.” He doesn’t return to his earlier position near the computer though. He stays right there next to them, smirking. It makes it harder to ignore him.

But okay, Zack can do it. He survived getting skewered by Sephiroth; he can survive Hojo watching him have sex.

He lowers himself again and gives in to the desire to rest his head against Cloud’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispers to Cloud again, this time even quieter. He can’t even hear himself saying it, but Cloud must have heard because the machine catches another reading.

“I wish I could take you to dinner first.” Zack tries to smile, but it hurts. And then Cloud’s jaw is right there, so he kisses it once, and again, feeling his own heartrate pick up.

Maybe it’s okay to pretend that Cloud is into this? That they had a nice evening out, and he wooed Cloud thoroughly, and Cloud blushed and asked Zack to come to his apartment with him. Cloud’s apartment would be sparse, with simple cotton sheets on the twin bed. Not large enough for two grown men, but Cloud’s a bit slight, and they can make it work.

The examination table isn’t wider than a twin bed, and Cloud’s skin remains pale, but his eyes flutter a bit faster than before.

There’s no point in drawing this out, Zack tells himself. He positions himself as well as he can without the use of his hands, and he can feel the hot flesh of Cloud’s hole against the tip of his cock. Just the suggestion of it makes him ache all over. He pushes carefully, expecting some sort of resistance, but Cloud is passive all over. Zack slides in easily, and he realizes that Cloud is lubed up on the inside.

Oh, from the thermometer earlier, maybe. Or when he wasn’t looking, too concerned with giving Cloud privacy than worrying about what Hojo was doing to him.

“Hey, when we get out of here, I’ll make it up to you.” Zack nibbles on Cloud’s earlobe. He wishes he had the use of his hands; he really wants to embrace Cloud.

A buzzing sound surprises him, and he lifts his head up to see Hojo with a hand on the nearby terminal. The terminal connects to all the wires attached to Cloud, including the one hooked up to the tube around Cloud’s cock.

Zack was hoping Hojo would stay out of it entirely, but his delusions of a nice, gentle session of lovemaking are disappearing even in his own mind. He’s so hard it hurts, and Cloud is so tight and warm, and his hips move of their own accord, in and out, while the vibrations seem to reverberate through Cloud’s flesh.

“Sorry,” Zack repeats. He bites down on his lip. “I’m sorry.”

His mind gets hazy after that, the need for release building and building, an insistent ache in his balls. He’s had rough, desperate sex before, but it was never his favorite, and he hates that he’s reduced to this.

It’s better if he gets it over with fast, Zack tells himself. Better for both of them. Hojo gets what he wants, and they’re both returned to their respective cages.

Zack knows he’s deluding himself, but it’s the only way he can justify what he does next. He bends forward and rams himself deep into Cloud, draws himself back out slowly, and then slams right back in. The pace is brutal, and didn’t he tell himself he wasn’t going to hurt Cloud? But he can’t stop himself either.

He sweats hard as he repeats the motions, _sorry_ on the tip of his tongue, until it isn’t, until the only thing he says is “Cloud,” and “please.”

Despite everything, release doesn’t come. He wants to come so desperately, all of him pulled taught and yearning for it, but there’s something holding him back too. His guilt, or the sense of wrongness, or something else.

He has to hurry it up though. The lube will dry out, and he doesn’t want to hurt Cloud. Something is missing, something critical. He doesn’t know what it is until he sees Cloud’s eyes staring straight at him, the pupils actually tracking Zack’s movements.

Cloud is _aware_.

Before Zack can even register what that means, he’s overcome by orgasm. He bites down on a cry, but he can’t stop his face from scrunching up, and his hips stutter obviously.

He withdraws instantly, most of his come spilling onto Cloud’s skin rather than inside him. That’s better, somehow.

When it’s all over, Zack’s exhaustion slams into him. His knees bend and he falls forward, resting his head on Cloud’s stomach.

Fuck. Fuck, he didn’t want to do that. Zack clenches his hands and wishes he had half his old strength so he could rip off the restrains.

“That was quite the show.” Hojo says, clapping slowly. “I can think of quite a few departments that would be interested in seeing this experiment.”

Zack is too tired to even make a sarcastic remark. He absolutely believes that there are enough bastards at Shin-Ra HQ who would be into the amateur porn vid that Hojo recorded. Fuck all of them.

“Clean them up and put them back in their cages. I got great data from both of them. Subject C even delivered a genetic sample.”

The implication of that sinks into Zack. Cloud orgasmed? But he didn’t notice any change in Cloud’s behavior at all. Zack feels needles piercing his heart again. He wanted to look out for Cloud, yet he wasn’t paying attention to Cloud at all.

The attendants undo Zack’s restrains, revealing his rubbed raw wrists. He complies easily as they hose him off and dump him back in the cage.

He feels worse now than after any of the other experiments, and his one didn’t even hurt. He’s feeling too guilty to look at Cloud when they push him into the neighboring cage.

Only when Hojo and the assistants have left the room and turned off the lights does Zack reach through the bars. He puts his hand next to Cloud’s, but he doesn’t touch.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.” Zack tries to smile while he speaks, but there’s an obvious crack in his voice. “You deserved way better than that. And I totally get it if you hate me now. But… even if you do, I’ll get us out of here, okay? You just have to bear with me until we’re free. I won’t abandon you. I promise.”

Cloud’s fingers brush against his.

Zack makes a surprised noise, but there’s no other movement from Cloud.

Still. It has to mean something, right? Cloud is in there. Cloud is trying to reach out to him.

Or maybe gravity moved Cloud’s hand, and Zack is delusional.

No. Zack’s an optimist. He’s not going to let Hojo and his band of torturers discourage him. He’s going to break them out, and he’s going to find a way to keep Cloud safe.


End file.
